Ski Designers, Armada Skis (Ep.27)

Jonathan Ellsworth

We stopped by Armada’s headquarters in Park City, Utah, to sit down with Andy Hytjan and Logan Imlach to talk about Armada’s past, present, and future; Armada’s stacked team and how they work with Andy and Logan; how Logan landed a design job in the industry; and we discuss a number of specific skis in the Armada line, including the history of the JJ, the evolution of the Edollo, the Invictus 108, and the new ARV 106.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• How Logan broke into the ski industry and the ski design industry (6:50)

• The very tricky business of setting recommended mount points on skis (14:00)

• “Symmetrical” park skis — overrated? (25:30)

• How do you handle the dual responsibilities of designing skis that will be attractive to a broad range of customers, but you also have to answer to Armada athletes? (26:40)

• Big Indie or Small Major? Armada’s unique position in the industry (1:04:04)

• Manufacturing in the US vs. China vs. Europe (vs. Dubai?) (1:15:00)

• Park & freestyle are such a big part of Armada’s roots, but as the company grows, do you let go of certain segments that used to be important? Or do you fight like hell to maintain those original segments? (1:22:15)